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Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a highly prevalent, long-lasting skin condition that causes flaky, itchy patches on the skin. The severity of symptoms can vary but it is a painful, disfiguring and disabling disease that can have a huge impact on a person’s quality of life.
People with psoriasis have an increased production of skin cells and over expression of keratin 17. Skin cells are normally replaced every 3 – 4 weeks, however people with psoriasis may produce and replace skin cells as rapidly as every 3 days.
There is no cure for psoriasis and treatment relies on a multitude of creams and therapies to alleviate symptoms and the appearance of the skin patches, including corticosteroids applied to the skin.
125 million
people worldwide (2-3% of the population) have psoriasis
(According to World Psoriasis Day Consortium)
Affects 1 in 50
people in the UK
Men and women
equally affected regardless of ethnic origin
Long-lasting
chronic disease with no current cure
Commonly
associated with several other conditions including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.